Abortion law that forced 16 Texas clinics to be shut down upheld

A US federal appeals court has upheld imposing new restrictions on Texas abortion doctors that, once enacted, will likely force many of the women’s health clinics in the second-most populated state in the US to shut down.

Last summer Texas’ Republican-controlled legislature passed a
series of polarizing new abortion laws that divided the state’s
voters along sharp ideological lines. Two of those laws – the new
requirement forcing abortion doctors to have admitting privileges
at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic, and a restriction on
drug-induced abortions – were upheld Thursday by the New
Orleans-based US 5th Circuit of Appeals.

This decision overturns a previous ruling from a lower court
judge who determined that the rules violated the US Constitution
and were not in place for any medical purpose. The appeals court,
however, found that the law “on its face does not impose an
undue burden on the life and health of a woman,” as quoted
by the Associated Press.

Thursday’s ruling noted that only one tweak must be made to the
law. Regarding doctors seeking admission privileges, it said the
law “may not be enforced against abortion providers who
timely applied for admitting privileges under the statute but are
awaiting a response from the hospital.”

Many Texas lawmakers are opposed to abortion and last year made
it one of approximately a dozen states to prohibit abortions
after 20 weeks, despite a number of medical professionals
asserting that a fetus’ brain is unable to feel pain until the 23
week mark. The debate made national headlines, with
now-gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis filibustering in an
attempt to slow the bill’s passage.

The laws were praised by Republicans, who claimed the law was
passed to protect women’s health. Yet Democrats condemned the
laws, saying they were yet another attempt to subvert Roe v. Wade
and make it more difficult for pregnant women to find adequate
care.

The provision requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a
nearby hospital, in particular, has already forced the closure of
16 clinics across the state, primarily in rural areas. Other
abortion doctors who have been rejected at hospitals for
non-medical reasons have also been affected.

In Thursday’s decision, the judges cited the case of disgraced
abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted of three murder
charges and on hundreds of other counts relating to medical
malpractice, illegal late-term abortion, and violating the
24-hour informed consent law.

“The State’s witnesses also explained that
admitting-privileges requirement was needed to maintain the
standard of care within the abortion practice,” they wrote.
“The specter of Dr. Kermit Gosnell informed the testimony of
Dr. Love and Dr. Anderson, both of whom explained that the
credentialing process entailed in the regulation reduces the risk
that abortion patients will be subjected to woefully inadequate
treatment.”

Many aspects of the new law that went unchallenged in this suit,
such as a stipulation forcing all procedures to occur in a
surgical facility, will not be enacted until September.

Thursday’s decision is expected to be appealed again, a matter
that could eventually appear before the US Supreme Court.